Ishita lied on her mattress, as she glanced at one of the earrings of the pair, that she held in her hand. she looked over to her mother lying next to her on her mattress, after all she has been through, how will she ever deal with any other setback, it would break her. she averted her gaze from her, kept the earring aside, and just looked at the ceiling fan. it looked nothing like dushyant or purvi have in their rooms, it looked shabby. it was colorless not due to a choice of interior design, but because that is what they could afford. their mattress had no sheet over it, in fact, her mother got it from a house she worked at, they gave it to her instead of throwing it out. she knew it for a fact, that someone like dushyant, who sleeps with his air conditioner on at the maximum temperature for his comfort, for the entire night, could never survive in this one house, that had only a fan to circulate air. she was convinced, that they come from two different worlds, that are supposed to stay apart from each other. but then, her glance fell on the dupatta, she kept under the mattress, the same one she wore that night...

"woh dusri shaadi karke, apne ghar reh rahe hain....beta bhi hai unka, aukaat nahi hai, par private school mein padha rahe hain usse. Sone se pehle, hamesha uske sar pe haath firte hain pyaar se, mujhe, kachde mein phenkne jaane se pehle do second bhi nahi socha." noted ishita as she broke down into tears.

Dushyant, hesitant at first, kept the plate aside, and moved closer to her. He reluctantly placed his hand on her shoulder, as he pacified her. It felt like she had been hurt since forever, as he saw her cry. He placed his other hand, on her other shoulder, almost giving her a side-hug. 

she recounted how comforting that embrace was, it is like she met a completely different person on that night at the dhabba. she found someone she trusted, someone, she knew she wanted. that was all she needed to know. 

                                                                         ***

purvi opened the door for ishita, and she smiled, as her glance fell on her earrings. 

"chalo, ab toh bhaiya hi tumhare liye darwaza kholne bhaage-bhaage aayenge... main bas taiyaar hoya karungi shanti se..." remarked purvi, as ishita just chuckled. 

"kuch bhi..." responded ishita, as she got inside. 

"purvi, yaar kahan rakhe yeh toothpaste! ek toh papa ko koi kaam diya hi mat karo..." came out dushyant yelling, only to stop, when he noticed ishita. 

"oh, i didn't realize tum aa gayi, woh bhi exactly time pe..." he said as he glanced over the clock. 

"uhh, toothpaste nahi mil raha aapko?" questioned purvi. 

"haan, woh mera khatam ho gaya aur...i don't think usse kaatne se bhi aur toothpaste niklega so..." replied dushyant.

"papa ration mein laana bhul gaye the, aapko kal batana tha aur laane ke liye...." stated purvi. 

"but, aap mera use kar sakte ho, abhi kaafi sara hai.." offered purvi. 

"thanks.." said dushyant awkwardly. 

"you know what, i'll go check on mom." said purvi, as she immediately rushed to neelu's room and got out of there. 

"uhh..i think, i should too..." said ishita, as she pointed to neelu's room. 

"yeah..yeah..of course." agreed dushyant, as ishita pulled back a strand of her hair, and his glance fell on her earring. 

"ishita, uhh, i don't know purvi ne tumhe kya kaha tha yeh dete hue, i just wanted you to know, ki agar tum nahi chahti humare beech kuch na ho, i totally understand..." explained dushyant. 

"well, she asked me to wear them today, if i wanted to give you a chance..." stated ishita, as dushyant's face lit up. 

"really?" he responded excitedly, as she nodded in agreement, reciprocating his excitement with a smile. 

"mujhe bas woh raat yaad aa gayi, woh uss dhabe mein...and i realised, i love you, a lot..." admitted ishita. 

they shared a glance together, before ishita gave him a tiny peck on the cheek, only to rush to neelu's room before he could react. 

he just couldn't help but smile at what happened, as he touched his cheek, where her lips had left a small imprint. 

                                                                      ***

purvi was in a deep sleep, when suddenly there was a knock on her window.  she wondered if it was dushyant again, as she disinterestedly opened the door, only to find kavin in  front of her. 

"what are you doing!" exclaimed purvi, now fully awake. 

"well, the date isn't over, there's one more thing left..." informed kavin, as purvi just raised her brow. 

"kavin, subha ke paanch baj rahe hain..." grumbled purvi. 

"tum itne baje hi toh uthti ho..." reminded kavin.

"fine, kahan chalna hai?" asked purvi, as she started setting her hair. 

"tumhe kahi nahi jana, i wanted to treat you with a breakfast you dreamed of as a child..." responded kavin, with his hands behind his back. 

purvi raised her brow at him, as kavin revealed a whole tub of ice cream. 

"ice cream for breakfast....i love you..." replied purvi, as she took the tub from him, and handed her a spoon. 

she didn't take a minute before getting into it, as kavin just chuckled.  it was funny how there were somethings that never changed about her, it was just what made her so special. 

purvi smiled as she looked at the window, remembering what happened a few hours ago, before picking up her bag, and leaving for college. 

                                                               ***